Mega whale pods and latest news, rumors, etc.

[Trueblood]

Why not Memphis to the Eastern Conference?

I'm just going with who is closer to the coast. While both markets are lined up vertically, New Orleans is actually a lot closer to the Atlantic ocean due to how the coastline runs in a southwest/northeast direction. Therefore, the areas farther south in the southeast region of the country wind up closer to the coast.

This is merely what I would do. I have no idea how the league would go about it. Maybe they take into account how much certain ownership groups complain about their respective alignment. Memphis complained for a long time about being in the WC but that had more to do with competition from the WC being stronger than the EC. Now that things have evened out a bit, they may not care anymore.

 

[whozit]

I'm just going with who is closer to the coast. While both markets are lined up vertically, New Orleans is actually a lot closer to the Atlantic ocean due to how the coastline runs in a southwest/northeast direction. Therefore, the areas farther south in the southeast region of the country wind up closer to the coast.

This is merely what I would do. I have no idea how the league would go about it. Maybe they take into account how much certain ownership groups complain about their respective alignment. Memphis complained for a long time about being in the WC but that had more to do with competition from the WC being stronger than the EC. Now that things have evened out a bit, they may not care anymore.

Fair enough. I was going by the proximity to other teams. Memphis is more centrally located to the Eastern teams where New Orleans would be at the edge of either conference. It's a mute point anyways since they wouldn't have to expand by two teams. There's no reason based on history that they couldn't go with a odd number of teams.

 

[Section 101]

Watched a nearly 30 minute interview/discussion with one of the Seattle stations up there. It had Art Thiel, the guy from Sonicsgate and the President of the Seattle Port along with the moderator from the station.

Thiel gave the Seattle odds at just over 50%. He said he wasn't as optimistic as others and said the ball is in Sacramento's court.

I don't remember who said it, but it was interesting. For all the talk of the corporate dollars up there, it was stated they don't spend like they do in other cities.

http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3061307

Thiel made the comment that Microsoft and Amazon do not buy suites or advertising for any of the sports teams.

The sonicsgate guy is a total lunatic. I wouldn't follow him to the bathroom.

You could do it like the NFL and have four different 4 team divisions in each league although I think it would make more sense to just have a 6 team division in each conference.
.

4 teams 4 divisions makes the most sense. You would then have each division winner in spots 1-4 and home court for the playoffs.

 

[whozit]

I've gotten the distinct impression that there are quite a few "team stealing" proponents that aren't fond of Mr Thiel.

 

[Trueblood]

I've gotten the distinct impression that there are quite a few "team stealing" proponents that aren't fond of Mr Thiel.

Yeah, they seem to think he's in the back pocket of the Mariners and the Port.

 

[bajaden]

I don't think St. Louis happens merely because it's a mid sized market that already has 3 teams. A 4th would be one too many. I'd love to see it but everything I hear is that they are off the table.

Same with KC. 3 teams in KC would over saturate the market. The arena is great but AEG seems to be happy without an anchor tenant.

The market that the league is eyeing is Vancouver. They already gave Charlotte an expansion team. By adding teams in Vancouver and Seattle, they would essentially be taking care of the last 3 markets that the league abandoned through relocation.

So how is Seattle that different from the Kansas City and St. Louis market? If thats the guide line they're going by, then Sacramento has a slam dunk.


Edit: By the way, St. Louis has the second smallest city limits of any major city in the US, second only to San Francisco. So its city population is around 900 thousand. But if you include all the suburbs surrounding the city, the fan base grows up to almost 5 million people. I might add as well, that St. Louis has some of the most rabid sports fans in the US.

 

[bajaden]

................. and Seattle has no arena plan.





BTW, in my continuing attempt to enter the 21st Century, how could I follow this on Twitter?

First, sign up for Twitter if you haven't done that already. Then start by typing in the names of people you want to follow, or the names of people that are mentioned here on the fourm. Like Carmichael Dave etc. When they come up, just click follow, and Wa La, your in the loop. As a result of retweets, by those that your are following, you can add to your list of people you follow by clicking on their names. Before you know it, you'll have hundreds of people your following on a hourly/daily basis.

 

[Trueblood]

So how is Seattle that different from the Kansas City and St. Louis market? If thats the guide line they're going by, then Sacramento has a slam dunk.

Well, if they're serious about trying to get a hockey team then I absolutely agree and think that they would be in the same boat. That's what the Thiel guy is referring to. They already have 2 major sports plus a major D1 and they love their soccer team. But right now, they're the 12th biggest market with just 2 major teams while St. Louis has 3 and is barely top 20.

KC is smaller than Sacramento and already has 2 teams so they're out as well.

Sacramento is a slam dunk because in our analysis, the league would be adding on teams as opposed to relocating current teams to different markets. But in analyzing future markets, Seattle is less saturated than the STL and KC so that's why they get the edge.

Now you can make an argument on behalf of STL or KC over Vancouver but again, the league is trying to make up for markets that have recently lost their team. STL and KC lost their respective teams a lot longer ago than Vancouver.

 

[The Hammer]

There's no "approved deal" if they are wanting an arena in a different site than the last "deal" right?

Maybe Burkle changed his mind and wants to run with the "old" deal.

sounds like more speculation to me. Can't wait for some actual concrete facts about this sitch, instead of all the back and forth on twitter/media

I think he meant a "city approved" plan in place. Stern may actually be stronghanding Burkle into not whining about where the arena is but instead saying if you want the team, take the railyards arena deal if that's what the city wants.

My hunch is that while Stern appears to be neutral, he is very much AGAINST ripping Sac's team away when the city government has already done everything asked. That would be just about the worst precedent you could set for trying to get arena deals done in small markets.

 

[whozit]

I think he meant a "city approved" plan in place. Stern may actually be stronghanding Burkle into not whining about where the arena is but instead saying if you want the team, take the railyards arena deal if that's what the city wants.

My hunch is that while Stern appears to be neutral, he is very much AGAINST ripping Sac's team away when the city government has already done everything asked. That would be just about the worst precedent you could set for trying to get arena deals done in small markets.

Fans may not matter in terms that fans of the Bucks, Mavericks, Hornets, ext. aren't going to stop being fans of those teams or any other based on what happens to the Kings but opponents of public subsidy do and they are watching what happens. You are right, the precedent would be horrible.

 

[Glenn]

I am quite positive Stern is on the side of Sacramento. He has done everything possible to be helpful. In fact, he has done more than I expected.

The difficult decision if we come up with a good plan involves the Maloofs. The Maloofs do not have to sell to anyone from Sacramento. They can be blocked from selling to Hansen but that's the limit of the NBA's power. The Maloofs have proven to be so irrational, who knows what they will do. To me and everyone else of a decent business mind, taking 2nd best (Sacramento) may involve swallowing what pride they have left but they will get the same amount of money if not more. They can then turn this chapter on their silly lives and move on.

It doesn't seem like there is much time left for Burkle/Mastrov and whoever to come up with any arena plan other than the one already approved and awaiting an owner's signature.

 

[whozit]

I am quite positive Stern is on the side of Sacramento. He has done everything possible to be helpful. In fact, he has done more than I expected.

..........

It doesn't seem like there is much time left for Burkle/Mastrov and whoever to come up with any arena plan other than the one already approved and awaiting an owner's signature.

That sort of falls in line with what Graswich is saying:

R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
There's been no discussion of public money for Sac arena since focus shifted to Burkle & Plaza. Residents need to know general expectation.

R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
Public contribution to Kings arena status: 2012 rr yard deal agreed but not executed by M's. City money ID'd. Plaza requires new deal.

Emphasis mine, that could be trouble and explain the delay.

 

[WALTtheWIZ]

That sort of falls in line with what Graswich is saying:

R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
There's been no discussion of public money for Sac arena since focus shifted to Burkle & Plaza. Residents need to know general expectation.

R.E. Graswich ‏@REGraswich
Public contribution to Kings arena status: 2012 rr yard deal agreed but not executed by M's. City money ID'd. Plaza requires new deal.

Emphasis mine, that could be trouble and explain the delay.

KJ to address media after david stern, reports chris daniels.

Could this be it?!?!?

 

[VF21]

New thread created so continue discussion here